By Souzanne Murekatete, Akilah Alumna

My name is Souzanne — and I am a graduate of the Akilah Institute in Rwanda. I earned my diploma in Business Management and Entrepreneurship at Akilah in 2016.

It changed my life.

I grew up in the Eastern Province in Rwanda. I remember that I would watch my grandmother weave the baskets that my family would put sorghum bread in.

I started to weave when I was seven. I had no idea that this would one day lead to me owning a business with customers on three continents, creating hundreds of jobs.

It was at Akilah that I learned how to think like an entrepreneur — it inspired me to start my own business that would create jobs and have a positive impact.

Every student at Akilah is provided with an internship opportunity — I chose to do mine at Rwanda’s National Museum in Butare. It was here that I found out about the rich history and culture behind the many designs that I had been weaving since I was a child. I realized that many Rwandans had no idea of this incredible heritage — and neither did the world.

It gave me an idea for a business. A business that would train Rwandan women on the history of traditional weaved basket designs — and then put their weaving skills to good use by creating sustainable weaved products for the international market.

I entered this idea into the annual Akilah Entrepreneurship Fund competition. I won. The $1,000 prize gave me the seed funding to turn this business into a reality — today I am the founder of Iriza-Ntako Heritage Ltd.

My business has customers in Rwanda and our products are also exported to the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

My business has an all-women full-time staff of five, and we provide work for hundreds of talented Rwandan women artisans.

Thanks to the success of my business, I have been invited to speak at Youth Entrepreneurship conferences in Nigeria and Malaysia, and I am excited to see what the future holds!

You can find out where to purchase artwork produced by Iriza-Ntako Heritage by visiting our Facebook Page, or at the Akilah Campus Store in Kigali, Rwanda.